International markets news

NEW YORK - US stocks have headed lower after rising strongly for two straight sessions driven by Congress's long-awaited deal to avert the "fiscal cliff".

In the last half hour of trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 29.16 points to 13,383.39.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 5.26 points to 1,457.16.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 16.95 points at 3,095.31.

On Wednesday the markets opened the New Year with a grand rally, the S&P 500 surging 2.5 per cent and the Nasdaq gaining 3.1 per cent.

LONDON - European stock markets have ended mixed as investor enthusiasm waned over the US "fiscal cliff" deal that had sparked a rousing global rally on the first trading day of the year.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies added 0.33 per cent to close at 6047.34 points on Thursday, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dropped 0.29 per cent to 7756.44 points and the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.34 per cent to 3721.17 points.

All three indices had surged by more than two per cent on Wednesday, in a bright start to 2013, after US politicians agreed a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Hong Kong added 0.37 per cent, or 86.62 points, to 23,398.60, but Seoul slipped 0.58 per cent, or 11.69 points, to 2,019.41.

Shanghai and Tokyo were closed for public holidays.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand shares rose on the first trading day of 2013, following gains on Wall Street, as investors drove up companies that featured on broker lists for 2013 such as PGG Wrightson and Ryman Healthcare.